Chapter 94 What time is it now? I've gone mad...
The grass and trees wither and fall, the dew turns to frost.
The autumn clouds piled up on the ground, turning yellow.
Li Pan sat in his military tent, a large map of the capital region spread out before him, but he just kept kneading the small amulet pouch in his hand over and over again.
That small white thread, symbolizing "snow," was worn down to the point of frayed edges, yet he still refused to let go, as if as long as he held this brocade pouch, she would still be by his side.
Wu Zhao lifted the curtain and walked in.
Li Pan suddenly looked up.
Wu Zhao hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "General, there is still no news of the lady."
Li Pan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“It has been seven days since the lady was abducted,” Wu Zhao said in a low voice. “If we haven’t found her after so long, I’m afraid… she has gone somewhere else, not on the road from Hedong to the capital.”
“Impossible,” Li Pan said decisively. “Sending her elsewhere would make no sense.”
He had a thick stubble under his chin, and his eyes were dark and bluish-black, but his bloodshot eyes were still surprisingly sharp.
“If we haven’t found her by now, there are only two reasons,” Li Pan said, emphasizing each word. “First, they chose some extremely secluded paths to avoid our checks; second, they hid her in an extremely discreet way, and our people checked her but didn’t find her.”
Wu Zhao frowned: "But there's chaos right now, and there are very few people passing through. Some checkpoints haven't seen a single person all day, so it's unlikely that something went wrong in the rush. Especially those with a lot of luggage, they were all thoroughly checked. I also heard from some soldiers that Deputy General Ding once found someone bringing back a relative's body for burial, and even opened the coffin to check it, which resulted in the person cursing him. With such offense, there shouldn't be any clues left undiscovered."
"A corpse?" Li Pan narrowed his eyes.
“It is indeed a corpse,” Wu Zhao hurriedly said. “I have also inquired and found out that it is the corpse of a man in his twenties, and the body is already somewhat decomposed.”
Li Pan was silent for a moment, then said, "No need to investigate anymore, withdraw all troops and return to camp."
Wu Zhao was surprised: "Aren't you going to investigate?"
“It’s been seven days already, and continuing the investigation will only waste time,” Li Pan said. “If the reason is as I suspected earlier, they have probably already transferred the person to the capital.”
Wu Zhao punched his fist in frustration.
Li Pan gripped the amulet pouch tightly in his hand, stared at the map on the table, and said coldly, "Pass down the order: attack the city tomorrow as planned. But if the enemy is found to have taken the Lady hostage, stop immediately."
"yes!"
Upon receiving the order, Wu Zhao turned and ran outside. As soon as he lifted the curtain, he bumped right into Lou Zhongyan, who had barged in.
Lou Zhongyan was knocked back several steps and barely managed to regain his balance. Wu Zhao tried to help him up, but he ignored him and rushed straight to Li Pan, panting, "General! Look what this is!"
He raised his hand, holding a bloodstained copper hairpin and a small, dirty cloth tiger.
Li Pan's pupils constricted, and he jumped to his feet, exclaiming in shock, "Where did you come from?!"
Lou Zhongyan swallowed hard, about to explain, when Li Pan hurriedly interrupted him: "This is something called Susu! Where is Susu?!"
"Susu isn't here!" Lou Zhongyan hurriedly said the most important thing first, then gasped for breath, "This, this is what we found on a horse!"
It turned out that the army would arrange for soldiers to investigate any unusual activity in the vicinity every day to prevent any secret agents from the capital from infiltrating. Once any suspicious situation was discovered, it had to be reported to Lou Zhongyan for recording and verification.
Just now, a soldier came to Lou Zhongyan and said that a suspicious horse had been found seven miles away from the camp. It was said to be a wild horse, but it was harnessed to a cart, as if it were used by someone to haul goods; yet it was also said to be a domestic horse, but there were no houses at all where it was staying, only earthen slopes and grass, and it was just sitting there all alone, grazing.
The soldiers thought that if it was a lost horse belonging to someone and they couldn't find its owner, they might as well put it in the army and make good use of it. But when they got closer, they found that the horse was injured. It had two bloody holes in its rump, which had been pierced by someone with a copper hairpin. Because it hadn't received any treatment, the holes were starting to fester.
A horse that had been deliberately injured appeared near the military camp, which was not normal. The soldiers did not dare to delay and immediately reported it to Lou Zhongyan.
Lou Zhongyan also found it suspicious and decided to go and take a look himself. As soon as he saw the copper hairpin on the horse's rump, he felt that it looked very familiar, very much like the one his younger sister had worn after joining the army.
But he wasn't sure if he had remembered correctly, so he checked the rest of the horse's body again and found a cloth tiger that had been squeezed flat in the bridle.
Now he was completely certain that his sister had indeed spent time with this horse! He had seen his sister countless times playing with this cloth tiger in her spare time, smiling at it. When he asked her what was so fun about it, she only said that it was a gift from the general, and that he shouldn't ask if he didn't understand.
Lou Zhongyan immediately ordered his soldiers to continue searching the vicinity, while he rushed back to report to Li Pan.
Li Pan was breathing heavily and immediately went outside the tent.
"General, wait!" Lou Zhongyan grabbed him. "That horse wasn't here yesterday, but it's here today, which means it walked all the way here on its own! There's a hairpin on its rump, which means Susu couldn't get away and sent it to deliver the message! I've already sent people to trace the horse's route, but no matter what, Susu has already appeared in the capital, and she's very likely already inside! Her being taken hostage is a done deal. General, you should take this time to think about how we should proceed!"
Li Pan acted rashly, which is why he wanted to go and see the horse, but after being reminded by Lou Zhongyan, he immediately calmed down.
"Is there anything else on the horse?" he asked in a deep voice.
"It's been checked, nothing else," Lou Zhongyan replied.
Li Pan took the copper hairpin and cloth tiger from Lou Zhongyan.
The copper hairpin itself was very ordinary, with undried bloodstains still on it. The cloth tiger, on the other hand, had been squeezed out of shape, and was not only dirty but also torn.
Li Pan remembered that Lou Xueying cherished this little cloth tiger very much. She would keep it by her pillow at night and carry it with her during the day. It was usually clean and fluffy, and it was impossible for it to have become like this.
Could it be... that she suffered some terrible treatment, which caused the cloth tiger to become like this?
Emperor Jinghui was actually willing to treat her like this?
Li Pan's lips were pursed, and anger appeared on his face, but he still had unresolved doubts in his heart.
—If Lou Xueying's purpose was to send them a message, to let them know that she was in the capital, then that copper hairpin would have been enough. Why would she need an extra cloth tiger? Perhaps she was afraid they wouldn't recognize the hairpin, so she added a cloth tiger on purpose?
His gaze deepened as he stared at the hole in the cloth tiger's body, then suddenly ripped it open with all his might!
Under Lou Zhongyan's astonished gaze, the colorful outer skin of the cloth tiger cracked open, revealing the cotton filling inside.
And a strip of cloth, half a finger's length and width, that was slowly unfolding.
Li Pan and Lou Zhongyan exchanged a glance and held their breath.
-
The early autumn wind blew into the deep palace, stirring up the rustling withered leaves.
The palace servants hurried back and forth, seemingly in a rush to do their work, but upon closer inspection, each of their expressions revealed the same bewilderment and unease.
"His Majesty!"
Emperor Jinghui was sitting in his study, rubbing his temples, when he suddenly heard an urgent report. He looked up, glanced at the report, and calmly asked, "Minister Liao, why are you in such a hurry? Have the rebels attacked?"
This man is the Empress's elder brother and the Crown Prince's maternal uncle. He was originally the Right General of the Golden Guard, and now, with the Empress's assistance, he is in charge of the defense of the entire capital.
"Your Majesty, our scouts at the front have observed that the rebels appear to be breaking camp, and they may be about to take action tomorrow!" General Liao reported.
Emperor Jinghui, however, did not seem afraid. He simply took a slow breath and said, "What is bound to happen will happen. They have been silent for so many days, and I thought they were plotting something new."
General Liao raised his head, glanced at Emperor Jinghui, and hesitated before speaking.
Emperor Jinghui keenly sensed this and immediately asked, "What is it? Is there something you're hiding from me?"
"I dare not conceal anything." General Liao pursed his lips, then hesitated for a moment. "It's just that I recently heard a rumor... This rumor may be related to the fact that the rebels have not made any moves for so many days."
Emperor Jinghui frowned: "What rumors?"
"Rumor has it that Lady Lou—that is, Li the Traitor's wife—has disappeared! That's why the rebels haven't attacked the city yet, and have been searching for Lady Lou's whereabouts!"
"What?" Emperor Jinghui exclaimed in surprise, "She's disappeared? When did this happen?"
"I am unaware; perhaps this is merely a rumor, not the truth," General Liao said. "I dare to speak boldly, but if the Lou family truly has disappeared, it will surely throw the traitor Li into disarray, greatly benefiting our army. However, the current problem is..."
What is it?
General Liao lowered his head, looking like he was ready to risk everything, and said through gritted teeth, "There's another rumor going around, saying that... His Majesty kidnapped Lady Lou and wanted to... wanted to take her as a concubine!"
"Nonsense!" Emperor Jinghui roared, slamming his fist on the table. "When did I abduct her? Wasn't she traveling with the army? If I had such power to abduct her, why didn't I just kill Li Pan and take her as my concubine! What kind of time is this? Have I gone mad?!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" General Liao hurriedly said, "We are naturally aware of Your Majesty's innocence. However, the rumors of Lady Lou's disappearance have spread to the capital. Perhaps because of her previous entanglement with... with Ji'er, the people have fabricated such an absurd rumor."
Emperor Jinghui turned to Eunuch Zheng beside him and asked sternly, "Have you heard anything about this?"
Eunuch Zheng stammered.
"You've heard about it too?" Emperor Jinghui's anger intensified. "You've heard about it, why didn't you tell me!"
Eunuch Zheng immediately knelt down: "This old servant serves His Majesty every day. How could I not know whether His Majesty has done such a thing! This kind of rumor came to the palace from the common people and was heard by this old servant. Of course, this old servant had to stop it in time. I also severely punished those palace servants who were spreading rumors. There is no need to offend His Majesty's ears with such baseless things!"
Emperor Jinghui sneered: "In my opinion, these rumors were spread by the rebels themselves! They just want to give them an excuse to attack the capital!"
In the eyes of ordinary people, he had absolutely no connection with Lou Xueying in this lifetime! Even if Lou Xueying disappeared and suspicion fell on him, it would be impossible for them to associate it with "taking her as a concubine"! This was clearly another good show put on by her and Li Pan, determined to ruin his reputation!
He clenched his fists tightly, his heart bleeding.
Su Jun...do you really have to push him to this point, to the brink of despair?! She doesn't even want him to be an ordinary, fallen king; does she have to pin the blame from her past life on him too?!
"Your Majesty!" General Liao said, "The rebel army is about to attack the city. I implore Your Majesty to release the criminal Lou Shu from the prison so that I may take him away and use him as a hostage to threaten the traitor Li!"
Emperor Jinghui swallowed hard, looking as if he had aged considerably in an instant, and raised his hand wearily.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" General Liao was overjoyed and prepared to take his leave.
"Wait!"
General Liao paused, cupped his hands, and said, "Does Your Majesty have any further instructions?"
Emperor Jinghui said, "Lou Shu is tough; be careful and don't let him die prematurely."
"yes!"
“But…” Emperor Jinghui paused, then said, “If they really dare to abandon Lou Shu… then you should not have any illusions and just take action.”
"Your subject obeys the decree!" General Liao replied loudly. Seeing that Emperor Jinghui had no further instructions, he bowed and left to go to the imperial prison to take the prisoner away.
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